Hi-Jacked from DZO...

[Tom Earp]

OMG,
this is so mundane and laughable!

Geeze, why not wear the letters to show who you have affiliated with!

Dah, this is a form of advertising and marketing for your Org.!!

I was at homecoming one time and the smallest Fraternity on Campus were all together wearing letters! NO ONE ELSE WAS!!! I was more impressed with them than My Own Fraternity!

The new Associates may not know what the letters mean, but it looks like you have more members than you might have Initiates!

Maybe this is just a girl thing tho

[KerriMarie]

Our New Members are allowed to wear letters on bid day t-shirts, homecoming shirts, and similar, but they don't wear lavaliers or block letter shirts until after they're initiated. Actually, they recieve both their block letters and their lavalier the day of initiation.

[trisigmaAtl]

I was told as a pledge specifically to wear letters. We were told that they were advertising for our org. However, We didn't get our engraved disc necklaces until the night before initiation. But those are big sister gifts, and it's just kind of a chapter tradition to wait.

[AXO Alum]

Originally posted by LeslieAGD
Sometimes it's not a national/international policy...sometimes chapters decide individually whether ther want NMs to wear letters.

I understand that completely and have no problem with that.

I would, however, have a huge problem if an AXO came on here and said "In our chapter, new members aren't allowed to wear block/stitch letters until after initiation -- they have to earn them" -- because I know that that is not what HQ says. I am saying that IF your HQ/Nationals (if you are a part of such org) says what should be done, then that should be the rule period.

I think the big problem is that often times chapter members do not know what their national policy is (if there is one) and they make statements to the contrary, which may give the org a bad rap. We get reminded from HQ about this through our CLC visits which are required -- ie, even though we aren't breaking any rules, we still have to be reminded (kinda like the dumb "coffee is served hot and will burn you" signs at McD's!)

[LeslieAGD]

Originally posted by AXO Alum
I would, however, have a huge problem if an AXO came on here and said "In our chapter, new members aren't allowed to wear block/stitch letters until after initiation -- they have to earn them" -- because I know that that is not what HQ says. I am saying that IF your HQ/Nationals (if you are a part of such org) says what should be done, then that should be the rule period.

That's a completely valid point. But, I think it's all in how it's presented...If a chapter said, "we prefer our new members not to wear block letters/lavalier because it's a special honor that you receive as a sister," it would come off a lot better than "you're not a sister yet, you have to earn your letters."

[DG515]

We don't mind nm's wearing the letters, the only real restriction is that non-initated members can't wear the crest, not knowing what it is they are wearing. The moment on bid day when you are "in" Delta Gamma, we shower the new members with gifts, including a bid day t-shirt, so they immediatly start wearing the letters....most girls don't really get "sewn on" letters and their lavilers until initation when their big sis's give them to them.....
just the way it is here! :-)
Greek love and mine
*mandie*

[zchi2]

Why is it considered hazing to not allow your new members to wear the Greek letters even though they don't know the meaning behind it but it is not hazing to not allow the members to wear the crest because they don't the meaning behind it?

There is certain things you can't wear in girl scouting until you go through certain steps. I just think sororities and fraternities have gotten way too sensitive...

[peachy]

Originally posted by AXO Alum
My question is this.....don't a lot of groups have secret meaning behind their name? I am NOT asking you "what does your name mean" -- PLEASE do not misread that. It is rhetorical -- just saying that IF your org has a secret meaning behind its name, then what would be the difference if you wear the letters, or the actual words spelled out?

[/B]

A thought... Perhaps because the Greek letters are, well, Greek. Assuming that by "spelled out" you mean "spelled out with English letters", then maybe that's the thing that makes the difference.

Dunno, my only theory... never heard an official explanation on this one.

[PiPhiGirl2005]

As a national organization, I don't believe Pi Phi has any rules about the letters.

As a chapter, our new members wait until initiation to wear letters. However, during pledgeship, they can wear the words "Pi Beta Phi" spelled out, just no letters. It is just a fun way to "build up" to initiation night, and it's always so exciting to finally get to wear letters! I believe that the chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma on our campus does the exact same thing.

In answer to the hazing question, I believe it is considered hazing by some to not allow NMs to wear letters, because not allowing the NMs to do something the actives are allowed to do might constitute hazing (just like making the NMs do something the actives do not have to do constitutes hazing in some senses of the word).

[PM_Mama00]

I'm glad that Phi Mu has the rule that Phi's aren't to wear letters. It IS a privilege for our sisters to wear them. Yes it excludes the Phis from the sisters but I kinda thought of it this way....

In NPC sororities, a new member can drop, and a year later pledge another sorority. I would not want to see one of our Phis wearing our beloved letters, and then her drop and next year seeing her wearing Phi Sig or D Phi E letters (the 2 other NPCs on my campus).

[CardinalSM]

PM_Mama, is that a national rule that your phis aren't allowed to wear letters? Some of my best friends are Phi Mus down here and when they were still Phis, I remember them wearing letters.

[OUlioness01]

Originally posted by PM_Mama00
I'm glad that Phi Mu has the rule that Phi's aren't to wear letters. It IS a privilege for our sisters to wear them.

PMmama~ Phis ARE allowed to wear letters. it might be that it's local tradition for your chapter not to have the phis to wear letters, but in mine we are told at our first Phi meeting that there is no limitations on wearing blocks or any kind of letters. members traditionally dodn't wear a lavalier until their bigs give them their first one after initiation.

[SSS1365]

Tri Sigma as a whole does allow new members to wear letters. However, my chapter doesn't allow stitched letters to be worn until after initiation. Our new members do have shirts with screen-printed letters on them that they can wear when the initiated sisters are wearing letters. It's a campus-wide tradition at Longwood University that new members can't wear stitched letters or lavalieres or crests or anything like that. Nobody ever felt hazed by it though. Longwood's NPC orgs also have a tradition of initiated sisters wearing jumpers in their colors (as far as I know Longwood is the ONLY school that does this). It started of course with the original Longwood Four, and other sororities adopted it as they were chartered there (for example, ADPi wasn't founded there, but they wear the jumpers). The jumpers are another thing that new members can't wear until they're initiated... but personally I didn't even like wearing it AFTER I was initiated

[chideltjen]

Originally posted by LeslieAGD
That's a completely valid point. But, I think it's all in how it's presented...If a chapter said, "we prefer our new members not to wear block letters/lavalier because it's a special honor that you receive as a sister," it would come off a lot better than "you're not a sister yet, you have to earn your letters."

This is kinda what I was getting at. Our delphia program is a bit of work and so receiving letters is kind of the icing on the cake at the end of the semester. They worked throughout the semester getting their tests done and so on, and then Hooray, you get to wear letters at the end of it all. The stiched kind that is.
The only time delphias can wear letters is when the rest of the house is... like for an athletic event or our philanthropy or something. Our "sport shirt" has letters on it and they can wear that then. But actually, now that I think abou it, many of the shirts that we pass out to new members and the rest of the house don't have letters on it anyway. Some do, but not all. So newbies can wear and represent the organization still.

[PM_Mama00]

Originally posted by OUlioness01
PMmama~ Phis ARE allowed to wear letters. it might be that it's local tradition for your chapter not to have the phis to wear letters, but in mine we are told at our first Phi meeting that there is no limitations on wearing blocks or any kind of letters. members traditionally dodn't wear a lavalier until their bigs give them their first one after initiation.

Wow, I was under the impression that it was a national rule! Well either way, I still like the fact that at least our Phis don't wear letters, and I don't think I woulda been comfortable as a Phi wearing them. It takes the excitement out of gettin your first pair from your Big at initiation!